I have been contacted by a Thompson descendant in Australia. We are trying to compare info. As official documentation of Ann Thompson, wife of William Buchanan, we have her marriage, censuses, death certificate and funeral card. Of special interest is the death info reported some time ago by Sue Schaller:
Death 024848-1911
Ann Buchanan, Nov 6, 1911, age 87y 4m 28d born June 9, 1824; of lot 33, con 9, Elma township; d/o James Thompson and Jane Long, both of Ireland. Ill four days - died of old age & heart failure.
and also given on pilot.familysearch.org
Name: Ann Buchanan Death date: 06 Nov 1911 Age at death: 87 years 4 months 28 days
Death place: Elma, Perth, Ontario Birth date: 09 Jun 1824 Birth place: Co Tyrone, Ireland
Gender: Female Marital status: Widowed Race: White Ethnicity: Canadian
Spouse name: Father name: James Thompson Mother name: Jane Long
GSU film number: 1854824 Digital GS number: 4176377 Image number: 255
Reference number: p 58 cn 024848 Collection: Ontario Deaths 1869-1947
This is what gets really interesting, because Jenny Salmon has records on James Thompson and his wife Jane Long from Longfield, Tyrone, Ireland, immigrating to Australia in 1855, and eventually dying there. The identical match on the names and place is hard to explain unless they are the same people. But why would they have gone to Australia instead of joining Ann in Canada? Economics perhaps, since passage to Australia was virtually free? We know that Ann Thompson and William Buchanan were married in Lower Longfield*, Tyrone, Ireland on the
24 Mar 1846. (* also called Longfield West. Longfield is sometimes given as Langfield)
Here are the messages from Jenny.
Date: 07/08/2008 05:29 AM From: "Jennifer Salmon"
Subject: RE: Ann Thompson
To: bill.buchananAttachments:
Thompson, James.pdf (239.6 KB)
Dear BillI have read your numerous queries about the Buchanans in Tyrone. I am researching the Thompsons of Longfield, Tyrone.I have the death certificate of James Thompson who had a daughter called Ann. Most of the children came to Australia in 1855 but Ann, Robert, William didn't. I do not have a Thomas as a son of James. Perhaps I have a different family but I just wanted to check. I cannot read the age of Ann even if it is correct on death certificate. Attached is the death certificate of James Thompson. Let me know if you think this is possible, I know very little about them except that James's youngest daughter Catherine was my great grandmother.
Jenny
Melbourne, Australia
Date: 07/10/2008 01:37 AM
From: "Jennifer Salmon"
Subject: Thompson Immigration
To: "Bill RE: Thompson" bill.buchanan
Attachments: Thompson Immigration.jpg (649.7 KB), Thompson family tree.doc (24.4 KB)
Dear Bill
I have attached the details of their assisted immigration to Australia Please note that the ages don't seem to add up and perhaps those few years might mean that we are talking the same family. Also there is a brief summary of the family, I have quite a bit more but I am just trying to establish that we are talking the same family. Let me know what you think if we are talking the same family.
Jenny
Date: 07/10/2008 12:45 AM
From: "Jennifer Salmon"
Subject: Jane Long (James' Wife)
To: bill.buchanan
Attachments: Thompson Jane.pdf (192.3 KB)
Dear Bill
James Thompson's wife is Jane Long. If you read the death certificate that I emailed to you it is there. The concern that I have is that I don't think that the years are matching up. The names are relatively common. Both James thompson and jane long died in Australia. I have worked out after emailing the relative of David Wilkin Thompson that I am not related to this person. If you note that William was 59 in 1871 on James Thompson death certificate which means being born in about 1812.Then Ann was about 50 in 1871 and so she was born in about 1821. (it is so close) I have emailed another relative to see what she thinks and I will get back to you when I know any more. Unfortunately the name Thompson is so common.
Please find attached Jane Thompson's death certificate (it is really hard to read) They both died about 70 kms south of Melbourne which is just near Geelong. The town called Duck Ponds is now called Lara.
Also I have records that only part of the family came to Australia and Robert, William and Ann weren't on the same ship.
Jenny
Family Group Sheet for James Thompson of Collow
Prepared December 23, 2000 by Tim Spencer
All places in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland unless otherwise noted
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Husband: James Thompson 1 farmer, of Collow my great great great grandfather
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Wife: X
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3 Children:
1 Thomas Thompson 1.1 Married: 1832 Spouse: Mason of Collow
2 William Thompson 1.2 my great great grandfather Married: 1836 Spouse: Jane Speer
3 Anne Thompson 1.3 Married: 1846 Spouse: William Buchanan of Ardstraw
Note that there are discrepencies in having a child Thomas, missing in the Australian records, and Tim Spencer is missing most of the children mentioned in the Australian records. I am guessing that Tim Spencer is working from Thompson marriages found in Ardstraw parish, so Thomas and William might not be in the same family as Ann.
Same family or different? I will reserve judgement on Tim Spencer's info, but I think we have a match with Jenny Salmon's Thompsons. If our Ann was born in 1824, having her father born in 1785 would be very reasonable. Even if the names Thompson and Long are common, the chances of having two James Thomsons of the right age married to a Jane Long, both from Longfield, Tyrone, seems impossibly small to me. It looks like a match. What do you think?
Bill
